The Backstory on RPCV Jason Carter

RPCV Jason Carter

Political Career Carter was born into a politically involved family, with both parents having a political background. Carter won the May 11, 2010, special election and served as a Georgia state Senator from 2010 to 2015. He was the Democratic nominee for Georgia governor in 2014. His Georgia state Senatorial win made him the first Carter to hold a political office since his grandfather.

Service in the Peace Corps After Graduating from Duke University in 1997, Jason Carter followed his great-grandmother’s footstep and served in the Peace Corps. He spent his two years of service in the rural area of Lochiel, South Africa where he worked on educational issues and assisted the school with their transition out of Apartheid. During his service in South Africa, Carter learned much about South African culture and learned how to speak both Zulu and Siswati. In 2003 Carter wrote a book titled “Power Lines." The theme focused on his tremendous experience during his Peace Corps service. According to his discussion with National Geographic News on his time in the Peace Corps, he said that he mainly focused on reforming the education system in predominantly black areas. The title of his book was inspired by his two years of service in rural South Africa.

Power Lines Cart spoke about the reason behind his publication and why the book is titled "Power Lines" in an interview with Ann Paisley Chandler. He noted that the reason behind for title is that power lines ran through his town, but there's no electricity. The town is not in the first-world South Africa, only the power lines. The only existing connection between the first-world and his village is the pole. He added that the psychological residue of apartheid was the another reason he wrote the book. He noticed the issues of fear and powerlessness in the white community and the self-confidence in the black community that created divisions between the two neighbors. Jason Carter is firmly committed to public service and sees people as fundamentally the same everywhere. Jason is also the Carter Center Board of Trustees Chairman and oversees the Center’s work in advancing health and peace across the globe.